日益增长的机会

Darius Nupolu ’20 MSL uses his passion, agricultural experience, and land provided by Feed Iowa First to grow African crops, making them more accessible to the Cedar Rapids community.

大多数早晨，你都能看到大流士和他的妻子威利在道斯农场的那片土地上种地。 他们的农业实践是有机的，传统上是手工完成的。 You might see them examining crops and picking off harmful insects, or pulling up ever-persistent weeds—one at a time.

The work they do each morning on their farm is meticulous, but their day isn’t even half-way done. 下午一点，他们放下工具，离开，准备开始他们的全职工作。

Working full-time while maintaining the farm is difficult, but agriculture is Darius’ passion and he will do anything to pursue it.

大流士在利比里亚的一个小村庄长大，那里唯一的收入来源就是务农。 He learned a lot about agriculture through his parents’ and other villagers’ farms, and gained an appreciation for the traditional practice of farming by hand. 为了追随自己的热情，他进入了利比里亚大学，并于2011年毕业，获得了农业学位。

大流士搬到了美国，选择住在爱荷华州，这样他就可以从事农业。 除了想务农，大流士知道他想继续他的教育。

“I wanted to improve myself while I’m here,” Darius shared. “I didn’t only want to work in this country; I wanted to go to school to learn.”

"I wanted to improve myself while I’m here. I didn’t only want to work in this country; I wanted to go to school to learn.”
– 达利斯·努波卢，20岁 MSL

He was drawn to Mount Mercy’s 战略领导硕士课程.

“The thing that prompted me to pursue leadership is that every sector needs a leader,” said Darius.

大流士对他在Mount Mercy找到的课程和社区很满意。

“One thing I saw in Mount Mercy that really encouraged me to stay was the relationships with students and my instructors,” said Darius. “这是一个多元化的文化； 你会看到来自世界各地的人。 But when teachers get in class, they don’t care where you are from,” Darius shared. “They treat everybody the same—with respect.”

在他的批判性思维课程中谈到战略计划的重要性时，一个想法开始形成。 达利斯问自己如何利用在美国的时间来帮助利比里亚人民，他根据自己的答案制定了一个商业计划。

他创立了利比里亚未来农民妇女赋权组织。 该组织为单身母亲提供低息小额贷款，使她们能够自己种植食物，喂养孩子，并出售给他人。

该项目目前帮助了75名单身母亲，其目标是到今年年底帮助100名女性。

大流士仍然在寻找实现他拥有一个农场和自己种植庄稼的梦想的方法。 That’s when his friend told him about Feed Iowa First, an organization that grows vegetables for food banks.

在他开始以志愿者的身份为“爱荷华州优先饲料”工作后，大流士了解了该组织新的公平土地获取（ELA）项目，该项目将有农业背景的无地个人与该地区的肥沃土地联系起来。 Darius在2021年申请并获得了一英亩的土地。

能把自己的农业经验派上用场，大流士很兴奋，他已经知道自己想种什么了。

In 2017—when he arrived in Cedar Rapids—he conducted a feasibility study to learn what African people in Cedar Rapids love to buy or eat, and where they purchase these foods.

他的研究帮助他发现，许多人从锡达拉皮兹开车到明尼苏达州购买非洲作物。

“I told my wife, ‘I think we can venture into this and see what the outcome is.’ When Feed Iowa First gave us the acre, we thought, ‘Ok, it’s time for us to grow African vegetables.’”

大流士和他的妻子开始种植他们的作物，并将它们提供给锡达拉皮兹及其周围的人们。

虽然他们出售许多蔬菜，但对他们来说，免费分享一些作物也很重要。

“我们不浪费食物； we share it with those who need it,” said Darius. “我们的目标是获得更多的农田，建立一个农场，并与人们分享，因为不是每个人都有能力建立一个农场。”

大流士希望在农业领域工作和退休。 He wants to continue farming African vegetables–growing and giving back to the Cedar Rapids community.